Development of a Standard Brownfield Definition, Guidelines
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sustainability Article Development of a Standard Brownfield Definition, Guidelines, and Evaluation Index System for Brownfield Redevelopment in Developing Countries: The Case of Pakistan Naveed Ahmad 1,* , Yuming Zhu 1,*, Muhammad Ibrahim 2, Muhammad Waqas 3 and Abdul Waheed 1 1 School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 West Friendship Road, Beilin District, Xi’an 710072, China; [email protected] 2 Department of Engineering Sciences, Institute of Business Management, Korangi Creek, Karachi, Sindh 74900, Pakistan; [email protected] 3 School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Second Ring Road, Xi’an 710072, China; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (N.A.); [email protected] (Y.Z.) Received: 1 November 2018; Accepted: 19 November 2018; Published: 22 November 2018 Abstract: Brownfield is post-industrial soil resulting from different anthropogenic activities and located in urban centers of cities. Due to the scarcity of urban land and the complexity of renovating old cities, and considering that brownfield research in Pakistan is still in its infancy, defining and evaluating brownfield is necessary for solving environmental issues and promoting sustainable development. Therefore, this study aims to develop a pioneer consensus-based brownfield definition, guidelines, and an evaluation index system to evaluate brownfield redevelopment in Pakistan. Initially, a comprehensive literature review was performed to gather key elements of brownfield definitions and create an evaluation index system. These indicators were further evaluated by different experts through the Delphi Method to develop a final questionnaire. Then, data were collected from relevant stakeholders. An illustrative example using three ideal schemes (housing society, eco-industrial park, and commercial market) is described to apply the evaluation index system. A new methodology combining Triangular Fuzzy Numbers (TFNs) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) was introduced to assess three ideal schemes. Finally, a pioneer brownfield definition, guidelines, and evaluation index system for brownfield redevelopment were developed, and a further index system was verified through an illustrative example. The standard brownfield definition, guidelines, and established index system is based on the Pakistani context. Due to changes in rules and regulation, and different land characteristics, these findings cannot be generalized to all developing countries. Therefore, further studies must validate the results in their own context. This study will foster brownfield redevelopment implementation in Pakistan and promote sustainable development. Keywords: brownfield; brownfield redevelopment; sustainable development; definition; guidelines; evaluation index system 1. Introduction Brownfield is often composed of degraded soils with a potential availability of contaminants that contribute to extensive pollution of the environment. There are more than 500,000 brownfield sites in the USA alone that need to be redeveloped, with an approximate clean-up cost of $650 million. Almost 800,000 sites have been perceived as brownfield in Europe, with an estimated remedial cost of about Sustainability 2018, 10, 4347; doi:10.3390/su10124347 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2018, 10, 4347 2 of 22 115 billion euros. Generally, brownfield is considered post-industrial sites resulting from different anthropogenic activities and located in urban centers of cities. The scarcity of urban land, due to environmental constraints, means environmental policies have become stringent [1,2]. Redeveloping brownfield can support urban development and decrease the massive pressure on greenfield. However, due to the existence of contaminants and poor soil condition, redevelopment becomes complex [3]. Different kinds of brownfield sites face different problems; while some can be remediated easily, many others are vacant and underused for a long time. In developed countries, post-industrial is the common term used for brownfield of every type from contaminated industrial sites to former factory sites, usually located in declining areas of the city [4]. Due to the short history of industrialization in Pakistan, there is a low ratio of brownfield, but still, plenty of brownfield sites can be found in the form of former factories, buildings, railway areas, military areas, coalfields, and semi-urban and agricultural areas. Pakistan is a developing country seventh in terms of world population, with 201 million residents. It is ranked the second largest economy in South Asia, with a GDP of about $988.2 million [5]. Environmental pollution and soil degradation are major problems in Pakistan, and the perception of brownfield is negative. In September 2015, the United Nations (UN) adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to transform the world by 2030 [6]; these include a specific goal, SDG 11, for sustainable cities and communities (make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable). Considering these goals, brownfield redevelopment seems to be an effective approach to make Pakistani cities more sustainable. However, in 2017, Pakistan was ranked 122nd in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) global index, securing a score of 55.6, which is an alarming situation [7]. Brownfield is one of the major hurdles to the successful implementation of sustainable development and is contributing towards environmental pollution and also disturbing environmental integrity [8]. Compared to developed countries, there is little awareness of brownfield issues in Pakistan. Redeveloping brownfield for environmental sustainability is fairly limited and did not get public recognition. In fact, there is hardly any literature on this issue, and no official definition of brownfield is present. However, brownfield issues are capturing more attention in Pakistan due to different factors: Government implementation of a new solid waste and pollution management policy was introduced in 2016 under Sections 13 and 14 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, named “Draft hazardous waste and hazardous substances rules (DHWHSE),” which noted the potential benefits associated with brownfield, such as economic value and improvement in social sustainability. DHWHSE (2016) focuses on overcoming financial dilemmas for the recovery of brownfield and to clean up hazardous substances. Moreover, it emphasizes how to deal with other critical issues associated with different kinds of brownfield, e.g., urban brownfield, former military areas, railway land, and post-industrial sites. The Provincial Sustainable Development Fund Rules (PSDFR) highlight the need to develop land pollution database, reduce ownership constraints, and establish a collaborative financial mechanism between federal, provincial, and local environmental authorities [9]. The abovementioned environmental and land policies are major driving forces that promote brownfield redevelopment in Pakistan. To reach a good position in the global SDGs index, it is necessary to take advantage of the plentiful benefits associated with brownfield and adopt it as a land use strategy in Pakistan. Therefore, an important first step is to understand these former sites, to foster the transformation of brownfield into greenfield, which is not easy to redevelop, is to define brownfield and develop a mechanism to evaluate brownfield in the Pakistani context. Brownfield is an evolving issue in Pakistan. Parties aiming to redevelop brownfield have to deal with certain problems. To understand site characteristics and different divisions (vacant land, underused land, contaminated land, hazardous land, abandoned land, etc.) of brownfield, there should be consistency in developing new procedures and a framework to deal with brownfield redevelopment. Considering this situation, a well-recognized and consensus-based brownfield definition is essential to avoid misunderstanding and develop a common set of words for every person involved in the brownfield redevelopment Sustainability 2018, 10, 4347 3 of 22 process [10]. More specifically, a lack of brownfield literature in Pakistan is also a stepping stone to developing a brownfield definition, guidelines, and an index system. In fact, the poor evaluation and feasibility of brownfield reveal a major issue for those involved in the redevelopment process, which is related to understanding different site characteristics and divisions (vacant land, underused land, contaminated land, hazardous land, abandoned land, etc.) in order to achieve consistency that enables us to develop new procedures to better deal with degraded soil [10,11]. Therefore, it is necessary to bring all stakeholders to the table to develop a consensus-based brownfield definition to evade misunderstanding, but also to develop a common concept among all participants in the redevelopment process. Moreover, there is an increasing concentration on brownfield redevelopment due to the following factors: the introduction of a new environmental policy in 2016 (a national policy on solid waste management), scarcity of urban land in metropolitan cities, negative perception about brownfield, and urban sustainability issues. In the last two decades, various evaluation approaches and index systems have been proposed to evaluate urban brownfield redevelopment including a life cycle inventory model [12], the rough set approach [1], the multi-attribute decision method (MADM) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) [13,14], fuzzy real options [15],